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| United States Patent |
5,716,470
|
|
Belau
, et al.
|
February 10, 1998
|
Loop material for improved attachment to disposable garments
Abstract
Disclosed is a process for producing a loop material suitable for use on a
disposable garment. The process includes the following steps. Forming a
woven loop material having a lubricating material thereon. The lubricating
material is present on the woven loop material in an amount effective to
assist in the formation of the woven loop material. The woven loop
material is rinsed with a liquid to form a rinsed loop material. The
rinsing process causes the amount of lubricating material on said woven
loop material to be reduced. Finally, the rinsed loop material is attached
to the disposable garment. A disposable absorbent garment including the
rinsed loop material is also described.
| Inventors:
|
Belau; Tom Russell (Hortonville, WI);
Mleziva; Mark Michael (Appleton, WI);
Steffen; John Frederick (Appleton, WI)
|
| Assignee:
|
Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. (Neenah, WI)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
872090 |
| Filed:
|
June 10, 1997 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
156/66; 427/154; 427/336; 604/391 |
| Intern'l Class: |
A61F 013/62; B05D 003/10 |
| Field of Search: |
156/66
427/154,155,331,336,353
428/99,100
604/391
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
| 2865783 | Dec., 1958 | Henderson | 427/353.
|
| 4798603 | Jan., 1989 | Meyer et al.
| |
| 4894060 | Jan., 1990 | Nestegard | 604/391.
|
| 5176668 | Jan., 1993 | Bernardin.
| |
| 5176672 | Jan., 1993 | Bruemmer et al.
| |
| 5192606 | Mar., 1993 | Proxmire et al.
| |
| 5318555 | Jun., 1994 | Siebers et al.
| |
| 5476702 | Dec., 1995 | Datta | 428/99.
|
| 5482747 | Jan., 1996 | Hayes | 427/353.
|
| 5509915 | Apr., 1996 | Hanson et al. | 604/378.
|
| 5656111 | Aug., 1997 | Dilnik et al. | 156/66.
|
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| WO95/05140 | Feb., 1995 | WO.
| |
Other References
"Hackh's Chemical Dictionary" (McGraw-Hill Book Co., 4th ed., 1969), entry
for sizing, p. 614.
"Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary" (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1981), entry
for lubricant, p. 677.
"Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary" (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1981), entries
for sizing (noun) and .sup.3 size, p. 1078.
Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Tenth Ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold
Co., (1981), p. 927.
|
Primary Examiner: Stemmer; Daniel
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/427,541, filed Apr. 24,
1995, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A process for producing a loop material and using said loop material as
a mechanical fastener component of a disposable garment, the process
comprising the following sequential steps:
forming a woven or knitted loop material having a lubricating material
thereon in an amount effective to assist in the formation of said woven or
knitted loop material;
rinsing said woven or knitted loop material with a liquid to form a rinsed
loop material wherein the amount &lubricating material present on said
woven or knitted loop material is reduced; and
attaching said rinsed loop material, which has a reduced amount of
lubricating material present thereon, to said disposable garment.
2. The process according to claim 1 wherein said lubricating material is
selected from the group consisting of oils, fatty acids, and fatty acid
esters.
3. The process according to claim 1 wherein said lubricating material is
water soluble, and said liquid is water.
4. The process according to claim 1 wherein said lubricating material is
present on said woven or knitted loop material, prior to rinsing, in an
amount of from about 0.05 to about 5.0 weight percent based on the total
weight of said woven or knitted loop material and said lubricating
material.
5. The process according to claim 1 wherein rinsing said woven or knitted
loop material with a liquid removes from about 10 to about 100 weight
percent of the lubricating material on said woven or knitted loop
material.
6. The process according to claim 1 wherein rinsing said woven or knitted
loop material with a liquid removes from about 70 to about 100 weight
percent of the lubricating material on said woven or knitted loop
material.
7. The process according to claim 1 wherein said rinsed loop material has
from 0 to about 4.5 weight percent of said lubricating material, based on
the total weight of the rinsed loop material and the lubricating material,
thereon.
8. The process according to claim 1 wherein said rinsed loop material has
from about 0 to about 1.0 weight percent of said lubricating material,
based on the total weight of the rinsed loop material and the lubricating
material, thereon.
9. The process according to claim 1 wherein said disposable garment is a
disposable absorbent garment.
10. The process according to claim 1 wherein said rinsed loop material is
attached to said disposable garment with an adhesive.
11. The process according to claim 1 wherein said lubricating material is a
fine, particulate, water-insoluble material.
12. The process according to claim 1 wherein said lubricating material is a
fatty acid or fatty acid ester.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a loop material suitable for use on a
disposable garment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mechanical fasteners such as hook-and-loop type fasteners are known for use
on disposable garments. Typically, such hook-and-loop fasteners comprise a
knitted or woven material having raised loops and a hook material
comprising hook or hooklike elements which are capable of engaging with
the raised loop material. During the manufacture of such knit or woven
materials, processing aids such as lubricating materials are often
employed to assist in the manufacturing process. Such lubricating
materials are generally applied prior to the actual knitting or weaving
process or prior to a separate napping process in which the loops are
raised for better engagement with the hook material.
Such loop materials are generally attached to disposable garments through
the use of adhesives. The presence of the lubricating materials on the
raised loop materials has been found, in some circumstances, to interfere
with the adhesion of the loop material to a disposable garment.
In order to overcome this problem, various means have been tried. For
example, the problem may be reduced by applying greater levels of adhesive
to attach the loop material to the disposable garments. Alternatively,
additional materials have been applied to the loop material in an attempt
to assist in the adhesion process. Such additional materials are often
referred to as tie coat materials which are intended to serve as an
interface between the loop material and the adhesive to provide better
adhesion than would be achieved by applying the adhesive directly to the
loop material. These solutions have not proven entirely acceptable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a process for
producing a loop material suitable for use as a mechanical fastener
component of a disposable garment. The process comprises the following
sequential steps.
1. Forming a woven loop material having a lubricating material thereon in
an amount effective to assist in the formation of the woven loop material.
2. Rinsing the woven loop material with a liquid to form a rinsed loop
material whereby the amount of lubricating material on said woven loop
material is reduced.
3. Attaching the rinsed loop material to the disposable garment.
In a second aspect, the present invention relates to a disposable absorbent
garment defining a first waist portion, a second waist portion, and an
intermediate portion connecting said first and second waist portions. The
garment comprises an outer cover, a bodyside liner superposed on said
outer cover, and an absorbent core located between the outer cover and the
bodyside liner. A rinsed loop material is attached to the outer cover in
the first or second waist portion. The disposable absorbent garment
further includes a hook material releasably engageable with said rinsed
loop material. The hook material is attached to said disposable absorbent
garment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a disposable absorbent garment according to the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In a first aspect, the present invention relates to a process for producing
a loop material suitable for use as a mechanical fastener component of a
disposable garment. First, a woven loop material is formed having a
lubricating material thereon in an amount effective to assist in the
formation of the woven loop material. As used herein, reference to a
"woven loop material" refers to a material which is woven or knit.
Processes for forming such woven loop materials are known to those skilled
in the art. Such processes generally involve application of a lubricating
material to the fibers from which the woven loop material is formed in
order to facilitate fiber handling throughout various production stages,
such as warping or knitting. Additionally, lubricating material may be
applied to the woven loop material as part of the finishing processes,
e.g., napping. The lubricating material serves to assist movement of the
yarns, from which the loop material is formed, past one another, without
damaging the yarn to an unacceptable degree, and through the processing
equipment, without damaging the equipment or yarn to an unacceptable
degree.
A wide variety of lubricating materials is known. Such materials include
the following: oils, fatty acids, fatty acid esters, fine particulate
material, such as silica, and the like. The lubricating materials may be
either water soluble or water insoluble. In one preferred embodiment of
the present invention, the lubricating material is water soluble.
The presence of the lubricating material has been found to detrimentally
affect subsequent attachment of the loop material to the disposable
garment. That is, since the lubricating material is often in the form of
an oil, fatty acid, fatty acid esters, fine particulate material, such as
silica, and the like, such materials often interfere with the bonding
between the material from which the yarn is formed and the substrate to
which the woven loop material is to be attached. This is particularly true
when the woven loop material is to be attached to the disposable garment
by an adhesive. However, the lubricating material may also adversely
affect other methods of attaching the woven loop material to the
disposable garment. The presence of moisture has also been found to
aggravate the detrimental effect of the lubricating material.
Applicants have discovered that the detrimental effect associated with the
lubricating material, relative to attachment of the woven loop material to
the disposable garment, can be reduced by subjecting the woven loop
material having a lubricating material thereon to a rinsing process.
Specifically, the woven loop material, having a lubricating material
thereon in an amount effective to assist in the formation of the woven
loop material, is rinsed with a liquid to form a rinsed loop material. The
rinsing process washes some of the lubricating material from the woven
loop material whereby the amount of lubricating material on the woven loop
material is reduced.
As used herein, reference to a rinsed loop material refers to a woven loop
material which has been subjected to a rinsing process whereby the amount
of lubricating material present on the woven loop material prior to
rinsing is reduced by the rinsing process. As used herein, reference to a
rinsing process refers to a process whereby a liquid contacts the woven
loop material such that a portion of the lubricating material on said
woven loop material is extracted or removed from the woven loop material.
Examples of such rinsing processes include washing, spraying, and the
like.
When the lubricating material is water soluble, the liquid used in the
rinsing step may comprise water. If the lubricating material is not water
soluble or otherwise capable of being extracted or removed through the
application of water, other liquids, such as polar and nonpolar organic
solvents, such as hexane, acetone, methanol, ethanol, carbon
tetrachloride, benzene, and the like, may be used. Due to ease of use and
cost, water is the preferred liquid for use in the rinsing process. The
water may or may not contain additional components, such as surfactants,
to assist in the extraction process. Further, the temperature, dwell time,
amount of water and method of rinsing has been found to affect the
efficiency of the rinsing process.
Processes for producing the woven loop materials often involve weaving or
knitting a loop material, napping the loop material to raise the loops off
the woven or knitted substrate, and subjecting the napped loop material to
a thermosetting process in which the woven loop material may be
dimensionally stabilized. The rinsing process can occur either before or
after the napping process and either before or after the thermosetttng
process. In one embodiment of the present invention, the woven loop
material is formed from polyester fibers, and rinsing occurs after the
napping process but before the thermosetting process. In this manner, the
liquid used during the rinsing process can be dried from the surface of
the woven loop material during the thermosetting process.
The amount of lubricating material present on the woven loop material after
formation of the woven loop material, but before rinsing, is suitably
within the range of from about 0.05 to about 5.0, alternatively of from
about 0.1 to about 1.0 weight percent based on total weight of the woven
loop material and lubricating material. It is desired that the rinsing
process remove from about 10 to about 100 percent, alternatively of from
about 70 to about 100 percent of the lubricating material from the surface
of the woven loop material. Thus, the amount of lubricating material
present on the rinsed loop material is suitably from 0 to about 4.5 weight
percent, alternatively of from about 0 to about 1.0 weight percent,
alternatively of from about 0 to about 0.2 weight percent based on total
weight of the rinsed loop material and lubricating material.
Methods for determining the amount of lubricating material on the woven
loop material and rinsed loop material are known to those skilled in the
art. One such method is described below in connection with the examples.
The rinsed loop material is then attached to the disposable garment. As
discussed above, the rinsed loop material may be attached to the
disposable garment by any means known to those skilled in the art. The
present invention has been found particularly advantageous when the rinsed
loop material is to be attached to the disposable garment by an adhesive.
Suitable adhesives include pressure-sensitive adhesives, hot melt
adhesives, cold melt adhesives, epoxies, water-based adhesives, latex
adhesives, and the like. The rinsed loop materials of the present
invention can be suitably adhered to a disposable garment by application
of a hot melt adhesive such as that commercially available from Findley
Adhesives, Inc., Wauwatosa, Wisc., under the trade designation H-2096 or
H-2122. The adhesive can be applied in the manner taught in U.S. Pat. No.
5,318,555 issued Jun. 7, 1994, to Siebers et al. in an amount of from
about 2 grams per square meter (gsm) to about 10 gsm, alternatively of
from about 3 to about 8 gsm. In one embodiment, the rinsed loop is
attached to the disposable garment by parallel bars of adhesive. The bars
are 0.25 inch wide and are spaced 0.25 inch apart. In the areas in which
adhesive is present, the adhesive is present in an amount of about 5.6
gsm.
The woven loop materials tend to be relatively fragile. This is
particularly true prior to the thermosetting step generally present in the
manufacturing process of such woven loop material. Thus, it is desired to
employ a rinsing process which does not deleteriously affect an
unacceptable number of the loops present in the woven loop material. By
this it is meant that the rinsing process should not destroy, or render
inoperative, significant numbers of the loops present in the woven loop
material. If too many loops are destroyed or rendered inoperable, the
efficiency of the loop material can be severely compromised. Thus, it is
desirable that the rinsing process be as gentle as possible on the woven
loop material. For this reason, the rinsing process is suitably carried
out by spraying or washing (with or without agitation). In one particular
embodiment of the present invention, the rinsing process is conducted with
water as the rinsing liquid. The water is at a temperature of 170.degree.
F., and is applied to the woven loop material by pressurized spraying from
the non-loop side of the material. The water is applied in an amount of
about 0.2 pound of water to about 1.65 pounds of woven loop material. A
suitable range of water to be applied in a spray process is from about 0.2
to about 10.0 pounds water per pound of woven loop material. A suitable
range of water to be used in a bath process (woven loop submerged in
water) is from about 2.0 to about 25.0 pounds water per pound of nonwoven
loop material.
Examples of disposable garments to which the rinsed loop material may be
attached includes infant diapers, training pants, feminine care products,
adult incontinence products, surgical gowns and drapes, and the like. In
one particular embodiment of the present invention, the disposable garment
comprises a disposable absorbent garment in the form of an infant diaper.
This aspect of the present invention can best be understood by reference
to FIG. 1 in which diaper 10 is illustrated. The diaper 10 defines a first
waist portion 12, a second waist portion 14, and an intermediate portion
16 connecting said first waist portion 12 and second waist portion 14. The
garment comprises an outer cover 18, a bodyside liner 20, and an absorbent
core 22 located between the outer cover 18 and the bodyside liner 20. A
rinsed loop material 24 is attached to the outer cover 18 in the first
waist portion 12. The diaper 10 further includes fastening tabs 26
attached to the diaper 10 in the second waist portion 14. The fastening
tabs 26 include a hook material 28 which is releasably engageable with the
rinsed loop material 24.
The diaper 10 may further comprise waist elastics 30 and leg elastics 32.
The rinsed loop material of the present invention is suitable for use on a
wide variety of disposable absorbent garments. Examples of the disposable
absorbent garments on which such rinsed loop materials may be employed can
be found in the following U.S. patents and patent applications, all of
which are hereby incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,603 issued
Jan. 17, 1989, to Meyer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,668 issued Jan. 5,
1993, to Bernardin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,672 issued Jan. 5, 1993, to
Bruemmer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,606 issued Mar. 9, 1993, to Proxmire
et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/096,654 filed Jul. 22, 1993,
in the name of Hanson et al., now U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,915; and U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 08/263,281 filed Jun. 21, 1994, in the name of Dilnik
et al., and now abandoned.
When the rinsed loop material of the present invention is to be attached to
a disposable absorbent garment through the use of adhesives, the adhesive
add-on necessary to obtain acceptable adhesion can be reduced compared to
the amount of adhesive which would be necessary to adhere the woven loop
material, prior to rinsing, to the disposable garment. A reduction of from
about 10 to about 70 percent is possible. Without intending to be bound
hereby, applicants hypothesize that removal of at least a portion of the
lubricating material from the woven loop material allows the adhesive to
penetrate, to a greater extent, into the loop material fiber matrix. This
allows the adhesive to engulf some of the fibers which results in improved
adhesion.
As used herein, reference to a "hook material" refers to a material having
hook or hooklike projections which are releasably engageable with the
rinsed loop material. Such hook material is known to those skilled in the
art.
EXAMPLES
Test Methods
Water Extraction
To determine the amount of lubricating material on a woven loop material,
the following process is used.
1. 3-4 grams of the material to be tested is provided. The material is
weighed to the nearest 0.0001 gram.
2. The sample is placed in a clean 400 milliliter beaker containing several
glass boiling beads. 200 milliliters of distilled water is added to the
beaker.
3. The beaker is covered with a watch glass and is heated to boiling on a
hot plate. The temperature is then reduced and the sample boiled gently
for 10 minutes.
4. Using a filter flask under vacuum, the contents of the beaker are
filtered through a coarse sintered glass crucible (such as that
commercially available from Baxter Scientific under the trade designation
catalogue number C8525-1, Pyrex manufacturing number 3294030C. The sample
and glass boiling beads are physically transferred to the crucible. Excess
water is removed from the sample using vacuum. Twenty milliliters of
boiling distilled water is added to the crucible and the sample macerated
for 5 seconds with a flattened glass stirring rod. Excess water is then
again drawn off under vacuum.
5. The contents of the filter flask are then quantitatively transferred to
a 400 milliliter beaker and concentrated to about 30 milliliters by
evaporation. Evaporation can occur under air jets while heating on a hot
plate or in a forced air oven.
6. The contents of the 400 milliliter beaker are then quantitatively
transferred to a 50 milliliter beaker that has been tared to the nearest
0.0001 gram. The tare weight of the beaker is determined by cleaning and
drying the beaker, heating briefly (5 minutes) to 105 degrees Celsius,
cooling in a desiccator, and weighing.
7. The contents of the beaker are then evaporated to dryness at a
temperature below 105 degrees C.
8. Residue in the beaker is then dried at 105 degrees C. for 2 hours,
cooled in a desiccator, and weighed to the nearest 0.0001 gram.
The above procedure is then repeated without a test sample being present
during the extraction process. The amount of residue present as a result
of running distilled water through the above procedure is determined and
the extractables (in weight percent) of the test samples determined
according to the following formula:
##EQU1##
wherein Residue wt.sub.TS =Residue weight of test sample in grams;
Residue wt.sub.B =Residue weight of blank in grams; and
Sample weight is in grams.
Wet Adhesion Test
This test is designed to determine the efficiency of an adhesive bond
formed between a woven loop material and a nonwoven/film laminate.
A 2.25.times.6.5-8.0 inch sample of the woven loop material to be tested is
provided. The woven loop material is attached to a nonwoven/film laminate
material formed from a 24 gsm polypropylene nonwoven material and a 14.6
gsm catalloy-based monolayer film, such as that commercially available
from Edison Plastics Company, Newport News, Va., under the trade
designation NFST/P-1500. The nonwoven material and the film are thermally
bonded together. The nonwoven/film laminate is that commercially used on
the HUGGIES.RTM. Supreme diaper product, commercially available from
Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
The woven loop material to be tested is attached to the nonwoven/film
laminate by applying 0.25 inch wide strips of adhesive spaced 0.25 inch
apart across the nonloop side of the woven loop material. The adhesive is
suitably applied by slot coating. The stripes of adhesive run parallel to
the short sides of the loop panel. The adhesive used is a hot melt
adhesive commercially available from Findley Adhesives, Wauwatosa, Wisc.,
under the trade designation H-2096. The adhesive is applied at a
temperature of about 330.degree. F. After application of the woven loop
material to the nonwoven/film substrate, the woven loop material and
nonwoven/film substrate are passed through a nip roll at a pressure of
about 40-55 pounds per square inch.
The nonwoven/film laminate is then delaminated by carefully pulling the
spunbond material off the film. The woven loop material remains attached
to the spunbond material. The woven loop material attached to the spunbond
material is then submerged in room temperature tap water with the loop
patch down. The nonwoven loop material/spunbond laminate is allowed to
remain in the water for 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, the nonwoven
loop/spunbond laminate is removed from the water and allowed to drip for
about 5 seconds. Starting with one of the corners of the woven loop
material, an attempt is made to remove the woven loop material patch from
the spunbond material without ripping the spunbond material. If the
spunbond material rips at one of the corners, an attempt is made to remove
the woven loop patch material along one of the long sides of the patch in
an area where there is no adhesive (between the adhesive stripes). If the
loop patch cannot be removed from the spunbond without ripping the
spunbond, it is said to pass this test. If at least a 2 inch area of the
loop patch can be detached from the spunbond without tearing the spunbond,
the sample is said to have failed this test. Codes which initially passed
the test after a 10 second submersion are then resubmerged in room
temperature tap water for an additional 10 minutes. The woven
loop/spunbond laminate is then fetested in the manner described above to
determine if a 2 inch area of the loop patch can be detached from the
spunbond material.
Example 1
Various samples of a woven loop material were obtained from Guilford Mills
Inc., Greensboro, N.C. With the exception of the control samples, the
woven loop materials had been subjected to a rinsing process according to
the present invention. The exact conditions and method of rinsing may have
varied from sample to sample. Moreover, the types and amounts of
lubricating materials applied to the samples may have varied from sample
to sample.
The loop materials thus obtained were adhered to a film/nonwoven laminate
such as that described in the Wet Adhesion test and commercially used as
the outer cover of the HUGGIES.RTM. Supreme Diaper commercially available
from Kimberly-Clark Corporation. The loop material was in the form of a
patch having the dimensions of 2.25 inches by 6.5-8.0 inches. The film
nonwoven laminate has dimensions which are at least 2 inches greater in
both the length and width directions. The loop material was applied to the
film nonwoven laminate by applying an adhesive, commercially available
from Findley Adhesives under the trade designation H-2096, in a series of
parallel bars having a width of 1/4 inch, spaced 1/4 inch apart, and
running parallel to the short sides (2.25 inches) of the loop material.
The adhesive was applied at 325 degrees F. at an add-on of 5.9 grams per
square meter (calculated in the areas of adhesive application ignoring
those areas not containing adhesive). The loop material was adhered to the
film nonwoven laminate by passing through a nip roll at a pressure of
about 40-55 pounds per square inch. The materials thus formed were
subjected to the Wet Adhesion test described above, and the results are
set forth in Table 1.
TABLE 1
______________________________________
Wet Wet
Loop Material
Adhesive Adhesion.sup.4
Adhesion.sup.4
Lot # Add-On.sup.2
Extractables.sup.3
10 Sec.
10 Min.
______________________________________
3284381L6
5.9 0.14 P P
3284381L3
5.9 0.14 P P
3284381L5
5.9 0.12 P P
3284381L7
5.9 0.11 P P
3280943R5
5.9 Not Measured
F --
3280943R3
5.9 Not Measured
F --
326330 5.9 0.03 P P
326395.sup.1
5.9 Not Measured
F --
326395.sup.1
4.425 Not Measured
F --
3284381L6
2.95 Not Measured
P P
3284381L3
4.425 0.14 P P
3284381L5
4.425 0.14 P P
3284381L7
4.425 0.12 P P
326330 4.425 0.11 P P
3284381L6
4.425 0.03 P P
121672 5.9 0.15 P P
121680 5.9 0.14 P P
3280943L6
5.9 0.17 F --
______________________________________
.sup.1 Control, not subjected to a rinsing process according to the
present
invention. Coated with a 4 weight percent aqueous solution of
polyvinyl acetate as a tie coat.
.sup.2 In grams per square meter.
.sup.3 In weight percent.
.sup.4 Wet Adhesion Test; P = pass; F = fail
As can be seen from Table 1, the rinsing process according to the present
invention reduces the amount of lubricating material otherwise present on
the loop material. Adhesion of the loop material to the nonwoven film
laminate is improved by the process of the present invention. This, in
turn, allows for the use of a lower amount of adhesive add-on while still
achieving acceptable performance.
Example 2
Two samples of a woven loop material were obtained from Guilford Mills Inc.
Each of the samples were formed from polyester fibers and have various
lubricating materials present thereon. Additionally, each of the loop
material samples were subjected to treatment with an aqueous solution
containing 4 weight percent polyvinyl acetate. A portion of each of the
samples was subjected to the water extraction test described above to
determine the amount of extractables for each test sample. Sample 1 was
found to have an extractables level of 0.23 weight percent, and sample 2
was found to have an extractables level of 0.38 weight percent.
Portions of samples 1 and 2 were then subjected to a rinsing procedure. In
each case, the sample tested was submerged in an aqueous solution which
may, optionally, have contained a surfactant and/or methanol. Further, the
sample, while present in the aqueous material, may have been subjected to
agitation by reciprocating the wash container. The samples were allowed to
remain in the aqueous solution for 2 minutes or 10 minutes. The
temperature of the aqueous solution, time in the aqueous solution, and
presence or absence of surfactant, methanol, and agitation were varied to
determine the effect of these variables on the amount of lubricating
material extracted from the woven loop materials. The results of this
testing are set forth in Table 2.
TABLE 2
__________________________________________________________________________
Rinse Variables
Temp
Run No.
Sample No.
Surfactant.sup.1
(.degree.F.)
Methanol.sup.2
Time.sup.3
Agitation
Initial Ext.
Extracted.sup.4
% Removal
__________________________________________________________________________
1 2 0 70 0 2 Yes 0.38 0.09 76.3
2 2 0.1 150
0 2 No 0.38 0.05 86.8
3 1 0.1 70 0 10 Yes 0.23 0.11 52.2
4 2 0 150
5 2 Yes 0.38 0.04 89.5
5 1 0 70 0 2 No 0.23 0.10 56.5
6 1 0.1 150
5 2 No 0.23 0.04 82.6
7 1 0 150
5 10 Yes 0.23 0.03 87.0
8 2 0.1 70 5 10 No 0.38 0.04 89.5
9 1 0 150
0 10 No 0.23 0.04 82.6
10 1 0.1 70 5 2 Yes 0.23 0.06 73.6
11 2 0 70 5 10 No 0.38 0.09 76.3
12 2 0.1 150
0 10 Yes 0.38 0.05 86.8
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.sup.1 Weight percent in aqueous solution
.sup.2 Weight percent in aqueous solution
.sup.3 In minutes
.sup.4 Amount extracted by water extraction method after being subjected
to the described washing procedure
The amount of water or water solution employed during the washing process
is equal to about 13.2 pounds of water or solution per pound of nonwoven
loop material.
As can be seen from Table 2, the temperature of the wash solution appeared
to be the most significant variable tested.
Example 3
Seven woven loop materials were obtained from Guilford Mills, Inc. The
woven loop materials had been subjected to different manufacturing
conditions, lubricating material treatments, and rinsing treatments.
Portions of the samples were weighed and then subjected to a six hour
solute extraction with distilled water. The extracts were decanted into
beakers and subjected to partial evaporation in a 60.degree. C. oven to
reduce the liquid volume. The concentrated extractions were transferred to
rated beakers and dried at 60.degree. C. A blank was run, and the percent
extractables was calculated as described in the water extraction test
described above. The woven loop samples were then subjected to the wet
adhesion test described above. The lot numbers, extractables, and test
results are set forth in Table 3.
TABLE 3
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Wet Wet
Adhesion Adhesion
Lot # Extractables (%)
10 sec 10 min
______________________________________
130 590088-1L
0.13 F --
134 590084-1L
0.02 P P
132 590087-1L
0.07 F --
137 141392-1L
0.27 F --
133 141393-1L
0.15 F --
131 141391-1L
<0.01 P P
______________________________________
As can be seen from Table 3, low extractables levels result in better wet
adhesion.
While the invention has been described in detail with respect to the
specific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that those skilled in
the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing, may readily
conceive of alterations to, variations of, and equivalents to these
embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be
assessed as that of the appended claims and any equivalents thereto.
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